Transit of Venus 2012: An Observer's Guide (Gallery)

News
By
published

Venus Transit 2012 Contact Viewing Times

Starry Night Software

This chart shows the times of "contact" between Venus and the sun during the transit of Venus for major cities on June 5, 2012.

Transitofvenus.nl Website for Venus Transit Times

ESA

This example of the tool at transitofvenus.nl, is set for observing conditions from Svalbard, where ESA will be reporting live during the transit.

Transit of Venus 2012 Diagram

F. Espenak, NASA GSFC

This diagram shows the predicted path of Venus across the sun's face on June 5-6, 2012.

Venus Transit 2012 Global Visibility Map

F. Espenak, NASA GSFC

The map shows the global visibility of the Transit of Venus of June 5-6, 2012.

Transit of Venus 2012 Phases Diagram

Michael Zeiler, eclipse-maps.com (via ESA)

Key phases during a transit of a planet across the face of the Sun are often referred to as 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th contact. [See our Transit of Venus 2012: Complete Coverage Special Report.]

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com.

Space.com Staff
Space.com Staff
News and editorial team

Space.com is the premier source of space exploration, innovation and astronomy news, chronicling (and celebrating) humanity's ongoing expansion across the final frontier. Originally founded in 1999, Space.com is, and always has been, the passion of writers and editors who are space fans and also trained journalists. Our current news team consists of Editor-in-Chief Tariq Malik; Editor Hanneke Weitering, Senior Space Writer Mike Wall; Senior Writer Meghan Bartels; Senior Writer Chelsea Gohd, Senior Writer Tereza Pultarova and Staff Writer Alexander Cox, focusing on e-commerce. Senior Producer Steve Spaleta oversees our space videos, with Diana Whitcroft as our Social Media Editor.